LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Economic Squeeze Tightens

Could our economy be undergoing a reality check? Is the stock
market finally undergoing a correction? Has anyone ever considered at
what point we all have consumed enough? There is an oversupply of
goods in almost all areas. Only those who have not enjoyed the
"economic boom" are still in need of many consumer goods. Many of
these people have the highest credit card debt and are now subject to
the greatest likelihood of downsizing and unemployment. They also
just happen to be in the 15% and 10% tax brackets that will get next
to nothing in Bush's great tax cut!

Check out all those who have incomes of $50,000 and under -- look
at the percentages, there are a lot of us. We have felt inflation for
a long time in spite of government and media ignorance over the
years. Look at the amount of credit card debt, the number of
bankruptcies, farm foreclosures and small business failures across
the country. Weigh these numbers against those who have incomes in
the top 5 to 10% and this will explain where "consumer confidence"
has gone. Low wage, debt-ridden, "temps" without benefits and
downsized people cannot continue to support the economy through
consumerism. To have continuous growth in consumer spending is also
unrealistic. There is a saturation point, especially for those with
non-expendable incomes. Higher unemployment may signal to
stockholders that their excessively paid CEO's are cutting costs, but
where will the consumers of the future come from?

Tax cuts for those with the highest incomes will not increase
consumption to any great degree. The media has continually focused on
how great the economy has been, and on the growing number of
investors with a share in the wealth. ... Take a look at all the
small businesses that are, or have, closed due to the super-discount
stores like Walmart. Look at the suicide rate of small farmers put to
ruin by agribusiness. Once your misleading "rosy picture" of the
minority is eliminated, there will be no surprise at the current
economic downturn and lack of consumer confidence! The reality is
lack of ability of consumers to continue to support and economy that
is no longer supporting them. This has not occurred overnight, it
should not be a surprise. Our government representatives have placed
themselves in the top income brackets, allowed themselves to be
bought and paid for, and can no longer relate to those they pledged
to represent. The media is controlled in its presentations by
monopolies that want the public to believe all is well so we can
continue to buy their advertisers' products.

PATSY KELLEY
McCall Idaho

Reinvent Learning

John Buell takes a giant step beyond the mainstream in his
"Alternative Perspectives on School Violence" [5/1/01
PP] Hostility to the deeper inherent violence in American
social ideals demands widespread debate beyond that of just that of
guns in schools. A good place to start that analysis is in the
schools themselves. We can't hope to have a non-violent society as
long as the schools imbue future citizens with the values of
self-interest, survival of the fittest, greed and materialism. Young
people cannot be expected to become creative members of society as
long as they are shut away from family, community, society and nature
in schools during the most formative years of their lives.

The resentment of this imprisonment in schools is deeper than the
occasional acts of violence that break through the veneer. One study
of student attitudes toward school shows that by the 4th grade only
27% of the children believe that the school cares about them. By the
12th grade only 4% feel they belong in school. It is hardly
surprising that when 96% of the future citizens are alienated by
schools that 0.001% break through with violence.

Our current school system was installed in the 1870s by Horrace
Mann and a few supporters with the specific aim or transforming an
agrarian society to an industrial one. The national network of
colleges of education and normal schools was to produce social
engineers who would then train willing workers for a
corporate/factory/industrial system. It worked well. American workers
produced the highest level of material wealth ever known. The fact
that the tools of production and the wealth was concentrated in a few
elite owners is another topic.

Today the Industrial Age has passed. Only some 4% of American
workers are now on assembly lines. America is moving into the
Information Age. But the school system still imbues future citizens
with the values and lifestyle of the factory whistle and the company
boss. As every page of The Progressive Populist tells us,
"people are more important than corporations, and the government
should be of the people, by the people and for the people." If this
is to happen we have to reinvent the way young people learn, the way
they are introduced into society, and the importance of family and
community in their lives.

Fortunately this is happening. Learning Circle, Homeschooling,
Learning Communties and other self-learning programs are growing at a
phenomenal rate outside of the government-controlled school system.
Perhaps it is time that at least the progressive media gave some
attention to this reinvention of learning.

BILL ELLIS
Rangeley, Maine

Stop Moaning -- Stand Up

The American Revolution of '76 took hold when the colonists saw
that they were not represented in the British Parliament.

It is common knowledge that the great majority of the people no
longer have more than a few fair legislators to fulfill their vital
needs.

I subscribe to The Nation, The Progressive, The
Washington Letter and give support to other organizations
concerned with civil rights, human rights etc. All the above reflect
the complaints and gripes to the present administration. By now we
know that "we the people" have been shafted.

My experience as a union organizer and as a tenant advocate has
revealed that many people have forgotten how to stand up, for what
they rightfully deserve and so Reagan was easily able to fire 12,000
workers without an audible protest. Our trade unions seemed to run
out of courage. In France there would have been a general strike.

There has to be a better alternative than our two major political
parties and the no-win Nader Greens.

It is time to stop moaning. We must find ways to combat corporate
money with creative action of the American people. Perhaps a people's
summit ... another continental congress or other organizing methods
that readers of your publication can inspire.

LEO LOEWENTHAL
Dover, N.J.

Make our own movement

Yes, I still think about him, too. Like a lottery player imagining
what he might do with his millions, I fantasize about how things
would be if Ralph Nader were in office right now. To think we could
have had him ...

But he isn't our president because we didn't do our job. We're a
bunch of yakkers, dinner conversationalists. We should have
mobilized.

As late as September, a disheartening number of people did not
know Nader was running. Shameful! Younger voters didn't even know who
he was. And then there were all those people in November, kindly
people, who would look at one of those Green flyers and say, "You
know, if I thought he'd win, I'd vote for him." I hate that line.

News about Nader was never at my fingertips -- I had to send away
for it. It wasn't until after the election, when I received my tape
of the Seattle rally, that I finally saw what a wonderful platform
the Greens had constructed. The pieces all fit in a commonsense,
realistic plan that no one in his right mind could argue against. If
only more people had known.

Our fault! Our most grievous fault!

What we should have done, and what we MUST do the next time, is
get the information out. I now realize that news does not travel; it
is directed by people with agendas. What a revelation it was to have
two-thirds of my informative letters to the local paper ignored. (The
guy who vents his outrage of abortions gets a letter in once a month.
Nader stuff was too radical to qualify.) And it was so frustrating to
hear no reference to Nader on network news, week after week -- until
those last days of proclaiming, "Don't throw your vote away." And the
worst was exclusion from the debates, potentially the best way for
voters to understand the candidates. We were railroaded.
Squelched.

We can't forget these things next time. We can't stand around
yelling like a gang of kids down the street. We have to go on the
march, like ants, with one purpose, a unified intention, and cover
every inch, every porch, every library. Every single voter must know
there is a choice, a people's movement, and that they are voting
along with millions who have a sense of the common good, televised or
not.

Can a mere 3% of the population reach the other 97% without the
help of conventional media? Can you plant a garden without a tiller?
Can you cross the country without a motor? It takes dedication and
actual sweat and sore muscles, not just flapping jaws, but by Granny
it can be done. And we're the ones who are going to have to do
it.

I wouldn't blame Ralph if he decides not to put himself through
campaigning again. As a lifelong servant to us all, he is already the
epitome of a true leader. Most especially he is a teacher, showing us
what to do through example, at a time when we have a desperate need
to be awakened and re-taught. He is an American hero.

KAREN SHELL
Toronto, Ohio

No Regrets on Nader

H. Rosenfeld's 4/1/01 letter stated that Nader voters "refuse to
accept the wrongness of their vote and blame everything, but their
folly." How sanctimonious and judgmental can you get! In this
country, I thought we still have the freedom to choose for whom we
wish to vote? Why do Gore supporters find it impossible to allow me
the same right I allow them, which is to vote for the candidate that
best represents their vision?

Gore supporters need to understand that no one owes a candidate or
party their vote. A vote must be earned by standing for issues
important to the voter. As a progressive, I overwhelmingly supported
Nader, because he is against the death penalty, NAFTA and the WTO,
"Star Wars", the inhumane sanctions and bombings against Iraq, and is
for strong campaign finance reform, single-payer universal
healthcare, and rehabilitation over incarceration for non-violent
drug offenders. How could I possibly vote for Gore/Lieberman who
steadfastly hold opposing convictions?

If one must play the blame game, why doesn't Rosenfeld blame
Gore's "loss" (he didn't lose, you know) on the corrupt Florida
election or the sleazy maneuverings of the Supreme Court? Where is
his ire toward the 300,000 Florida Democrats that voted for Bush over
Gore, which would have made a 600,000 vote difference? Where is his
current froth over the spineless Democrats in D.C. who refuse to
fight Bush's extremist agenda or ticket into The White House and are
now wavering on the McCain-Feingold bill?

I have absolutely no regrets voting for Ralph Nader and still
support him wholeheartedly. The only folly I see in an election is
voting for a candidate I do not believe in, because someone else
thinks I should so that another candidate might lose

MARILEE HARTLEY
Columbus, Ohio

Something Has to Go -- Why Not Robber Barons?

The phony energy shortage is just another ploy by the new Wall
Street and Washington, D.C. Robber Barons to extort billions of
dollars from a vulnerable public, as they are already doing in
California.

The scenario is the same as the phony '70's oil shortage crisis. A
close friend worked for the largest oil company as a computer
unloader for incoming oil tankers in Florida. During the entire
"shortage," tankers were lined up for months waiting to unload oil.
The storage facilities were all crammed full for the entire phony
planned crisis!

Today we have the same contrived crisis to:

1. Frighten the public

2. To push for nuclear power (a total environmental horror)

3. To drill in the Arctic Refuge (ecological horror)

4. To raise the price of power to astronomical levels (a possible
real killer of the poor and vulnerable).

These Robber Baron Charlatans must understand that their cruel
policies can lead to a revolution or massive energy boycotts by the
victimized public. I, for one, will be willing to turn off the power,
living with cold water, wood heat, candle light, and canned food, and
I am 70 years old. I can also walk or ride my bike. But many of the
most vulnerable in our society will not survive, if these cruel
policies proceed.

The Robber Baron scare tactics only involve vital human services,
such as Social Security, welfare for the poor. We still have no
national health system for all, as other, more humane countries have
for their people. Of industrialized countries, only the USA and South
Africa are lacking this vital public service. The authorities will
make sure that there will never be a future collapse of the
tax-funded profit-driven enriching weapons industry and its Siamese
twin, the Pentagon,

The Bonneville Administration has no right to threaten the public
with mammoth increases in utility bills. Bonneville was built with
tax-payer monies. It is a public utility and should remain so.
Pirates should not be allowed to operate it. Will a phony food
shortage be the next scare tactic?

Something HAS to go and, hopefully, it will be all of the Robber
Barons.

Yours truly,

ALICE KEISER GRETH
Bend, Ore.

No confidence in the people

American progressive/leftist activists may prevail against
ruthless multi-national corporations.

They may prevail against amoral, corrupt politicians.

But American progressives will never prevail against the great
mass of the brainwashed, abysmally ignorant American electorate.

An electorate that chose the likes of Richard Nixon to be the
leader of the American people.

An electorate that twice gave the presidency to Ronald Reagan, the
patron saint of American reactionaries.

An electorate that has now given the presidency to George W. Bush,
a lackey of American plutocracy.

Regardless of what happened in Florida, Bush could never have
claimed the presidency if many millions of Americans had not given
him their vote.

It has been said that Americans get the sort of government that
they deserve. They certainly do.

GUS MIRSALIS
Richmond Heights, Ohio

Confused and befuddled

I guess since the Republicans are totally in charge it should not
be so surprising that we are in a totally hypocritical state. As
President Bush is selling his tax cut for the rich, saying that they
have paid too much in taxes over the years, Federal Prosecutors are
spending millions of tax dollars trying to get Marc Rich for tax
evasion from years ago. It seems that HYPOCRITICAL DAYS are here to
stay for a long, long time!